Constitutional Law: What is Due Process of Law?

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Fifth Amendment

The Fifth Amendment guarantees due process about all matters pertaining to laws of the federal government.
Our Fifth Amendment says....
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
This has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as both a remedial requirement about other constitutional rights that a person enjoys that have been violated, and additional "procedural" and "substantive" components about how to restore those violated rights.

2

Fourteenth Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees due process about all matters pertaining to laws of the several States.
Passed right after the Civil War, the Fourteenth Amendment, Section 1 says....
"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
In Chapman v. California, 386 U.S. 18 (1967) the Supreme Court ruled that the states themselves cannot be allowed to determine "remedies designed to protect people from infractions by the States of federally guaranteed rights." Thus the decisions about due process have used the same meanings for both due process clauses

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Comparison of Due Process

The same meaning has been ascribed to due process under the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth. In the famous court decision of Malinski v. New York, 324 U.S. 401 (1945), Justice Frankfurter said that it would be "too frivolous" to suggest that due process of law meant one thing as regards the national government and another as regards the states.
a) Procedural Due Process
When faced with being deprived of life, liberty or property procedural (adequate notice, a hearing, and a neutral judge) due process is mandated.
b) Substantive
due process rights stem from a violation of three main type of rights:
1) Political process rights such as voting, free speech and rights to assemble or associate;
2) Minority rights of identified groups such as native americans as but one example;
3) Protection rights afforded by the Bill of Rights (i.e. the first Eight Amendments of the US Constitution).
If you have suffered a possible constitutional rights violation, see your lawyer.